Justin Gabriel
On February 16, 2010, it was announced that Gabriel was going to be competing on the first season of WWE NXT, with Matt Hardy as his storyline mentor. He made his in-ring debut on the March 2 episode of NXT in a tag team match with his mentor Hardy, against the team of William Regal and Skip Sheffield. Gabriel and Hardy won the match when Gabriel pinned Regal, making him the first rookie to pin a pro on the show. He went on to defeat Wade Barrett the following week, before suffering his first defeat on the March 16 episode of NXT, when he and Hardy were defeated by CM Punk and Darren Young. On March 30, in the first Pros Poll, Gabriel was ranked third behind Daniel Bryan (first) and Wade Barrett (second). Before the first elimination, Gabriel won the Rookie Challenge earning immunity from elimination in the following Pros Poll. In that Poll, Gabriel remained in third place behind Wade Barrett (who was moved to first) and David Otunga (second). In the season finale on the June 1 episode of NXT, Gabriel was the first eliminated, finishing in third place overall in the competition. On the June 7 episode of Raw, Gabriel and the other season one NXT rookies turned heel by interfering in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking both competitors, the announcing team and Justin Roberts, the ring announcer, before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment. On the June 14 episode of Raw the rookies (excluding Daniel Bryan who had been released) attacked General Manager Bret Hart, when he refused to give them contracts. At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view, the seven rookies interfered in the WWE Championship match, as a result costing Cena the championship. The following week on Raw, Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced the hiring of a new General Manager, who had signed the seven season one NXT rookies to contracts. The following week, the group was named The Nexus. On the July 12 episode of Raw, The Nexus competed in their first match together, without Darren Young, a six–on–one handicap match against John Cena, which they won when Gabriel pinned Cena. The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam. Gabriel was one of the final two Nexus members in the match, but Cena's team won when Cena eliminated Gabriel and then Barrett to win the match. In October 2010, Cena was forced to join The Nexus as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell, and at the following pay-per-view, Cena and Otunga won the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the October 25 episode of Raw, Barrett made a tag team match, with Gabriel and Heath Slater facing Otunga and Cena for the championship. Gabriel and Slater won when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him, becoming the new Tag Team Champions. Gabriel and Slater held the championship for nearly two months, before losing it to Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov in a four-way elimination match also involving The Usos and Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu on the December 6 episode of Raw. Gabriel and Slater received a rematch for the championship at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19, but lost by disqualification when Nexus member Michael McGillicutty interfered. On the January 10, 2011, episode of Raw Gabriel and Slater refused to take part in new Nexus leader CM Punk's initiation and walked away from the group. The following day, at the tapings of the January 14 episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater helped their former leader Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson attack Big Show. The following week, Gabriel, Slater, Barrett, and Jackson announced they had formed The Corre, and later that night Gabriel defeated World Heavyweight Champion Edge in a non-title match, following interference from the other members of The Corre. After winning a non-title match against the champions Kozlov and Marella on the February 4 episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater received a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship two weeks later, but lost via disqualification when the other members of The Corre interfered. They received a rematch at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on February 20 and defeated Marella and Kozlov to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for the second time. The following night on Raw, Gabriel and Slater lost the championship to John Cena and The Miz, but won the championship back minutes later after Barrett invoked The Corre's rematch clause, and The Miz turned on Cena. During this time, The Corre had continued to feud with The Big Show, and at WrestleMania XXVII in April the team of The Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre. At the April 19 taping of SmackDown, the duo of Gabriel and Slater lost the Tag Team Championship to the team of Kane and The Big Show. In a backstage segment following the match, Gabriel was attacked by Slater, who thought Gabriel blamed him for their loss. On the May 6 episode of SmackDown, Gabriel, Barrett, and Slater attacked Jackson, removing him from the group. The three remaining members of The Corre feuded with Jackson until the June 10 episode of SmackDown, when Barrett walked out on Gabriel and Slater during a six-man tag team match against Jackson and The Usos, causing Gabriel and Slater to proclaim the end of The Corre. Gabriel continued to ally himself with Slater despite the dissolution of The Corre, and the duo began a feud with The Usos. On the June 17 episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater were defeated by The Usos, but defeated them in a rematch the following week. They were again defeated by The Usos on the July 8 episode of SmackDown, resulting in the pair arguing in the ring. The following week, their team was ended when they faced off in a match won by Gabriel and Gabriel transitioned to a face (fan favorite) character. At Money in the Bank, he participated in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Daniel Bryan. Gabriel then went on a winning streak in both singles and tag team matches, until Wade Barrett pinned him on the September 23 episode of SmackDown. Gabriel competed only sporadically on SmackDown for the next two months, losing several matches until defeating Jinder Mahal on the December 2 episode of SmackDown due to a distraction from Ted DiBiase. In January 2012, Gabriel began an alliance of sorts with Hornswoggle, saving him from Heath Slater and Cody Rhodes, leading to matches with both which he won and lost respectively. At Elimination Chamber, Gabriel failed to capture the WWE United States Championship from Jack Swagger. On the March 29 episode of Superstars, Gabriel faced Tyson Kidd and won the match, after which the duo showed mutual respect and agreed to form a tag team to challenge Primo & Epico for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a dark Triple Threat tag team match for WrestleMania XXVIII, also involving the Usos. However, Primo & Epico managed to win the match and retain their titles. During the match, Gabriel suffered a hyperextended and twisted elbow, rendering him out of action for several weeks. After nearly two months, Gabriel returned from injury on the 30 May episode of NXT, scoring the win for himself, Derrick Bateman and Percy Watson over the team of JTG, Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty. Gabriel reunited with Kidd on the 6 June episode of NXT, where they defeated the duo of Johnny Curtis and Heath Slater. At the No Way Out pay-per-view, Gabriel and Kidd were defeated by the Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) in a number one contender Fatal Four-Way tag team match, also involving Primo and Epico and The Usos. On the June 21 episode of WWE Superstars,Gabriel and Kidd competed in tag team competition coming out victorious against the team of Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks, a feat they repeated on the July 26 and August 10 episodes of WWE Superstars again in winning efforts. On the August 24 episode of SmackDown, Kidd and Gabriel, now being called International Airstrike, joined the other tag teams backstage in an argument on which team will be the new #1 contenders for the tag titles, which ended in a brawl. The team suffered their first loss on the August 31 episode of SmackDown against the Prime Time Players. On the debut episode of WWE Main Event on October 3, Gabriel and Kidd lost to Santino Marella and Zack Ryder in the quarter-finals of a tournament to decide the number contender to the tag team titles. On the November 12 episode of Raw, Gabriel and Kidd competed in an 8 man tag team match alongside with Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara defeating Titus O' Neil, Darren Young, Primo, and Epico with Gabriel pinning Young. At the Survivor Series pay-per-view, Kidd was victorious in a 10 man elimination tag team match alongside Justin Gabriel, Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, and Brodus Clay against Titus O'Neil, Darren Young, Primo, Epico, and Tensai. On the March 25, 2013 episode of Raw, Gabriel teamed with The Great Khali and Zack Ryder against The Shield in a losing effort. On the April 17 episode of WWE Main Event, Gabriel won a battle royal to earn an Intercontinental Championship match against Wade Barrett later that night. Gabriel ended up losing to Barrett. On the July 17 edition of WWE Main Event Gabriel along with Heath Slater, whom he had a match with, and 3MB were attacked by the Wyatt Family. Used sporadically throughout 2013, he became briefly involved in the storyline between The Authority and Daniel Bryan, and was punished by COO Triple H after aiding Bryan. On 6 April 2014, Gabriel competed in the André the Giant Memorial battle royal at WrestleMania XXX, but was eliminated by Big E. In mid-2014, Gabriel began competing regularly on NXT. On the 3 July episode of NXT, Gabriel lost a match to Sami Zayn. After the match, Gabriel and Tyson Kidd attacked Zayn, turning heel, and reforming their alliance. The following week on NXT, Gabriel and Kidd defeated Zayn and Adrian Neville in a tag team match. He remained a face however on the main roster, as he faced Alberto Del Rio on the July 31st episode of Superstars in a losing effort. On the August 7 episode of NXT, Gabriel and Kidd participated in the #1 contender's Tag Team Championship Tournament but lost to Zayn and Adam Rose in the first round. Starting in late 2014, Gabriel began competing in mostly singles matches on Main Event, and NXT. He was unsuccessful in defeating Titus O'Neil on the December 30th episode of Main Event. On the January 12th episode of "Raw" Gabriel was a part of a 12-Lumberjack match between John Cena and Seth Rollins, and the lumberjacks were all "authority sympathizers". During the match whenever Cena fell out of the ring, the lumberjacks proceeded to attack him. But when Rollins fell out they wouldn't attack, making a possible heel turn. However, this heel turn was proven false when Gabriel and Los Matadores competed together on the January 16, 2015 edition of Superstars in a 6-man tag match against the heels Goldust and Stardust and Fandango. However, the trio was unable to defeat their opponents. On January 24, 2015, Gabriel quit the WWE. Category:WWE Tag Team Champions Category:Slammy Award Winners Category:Current Alumni